Should illegal drug possession be decriminalised?

Decriminalising the possession of all illegal drugs should be considered by the government to prevent related deaths, a group of MPs has said.

 

The health and social care committee said the level of such deaths in the UK had become a public health “emergency.”

 

Evidence heard throughout this inquiry leads the committee to conclude that UK drugs policy is clearly failing,” the report said.

 

“The United Kingdom has some of the highest drug death rates in Europe, particularly in Scotland.

“This report shows how the rate of drug-related deaths has risen to the scale of a public health emergency.”

Committee chairman, and Liberal Democrat MP, Dr Sarah Wollaston said, “Every drug death should be regarded as preventable, and yet across the UK the number of drugs-related deaths continues to rise to the scale of a public health emergency.

“Recommendations put forward in this report propose changes to drugs policy that are desperately needed to prevent thousands of deaths.”